So yesterday, I painted about 150 weapons, most of them botlers. Here's the pile of them before I started painting.

AS I was working on the final colour of them, I noticed just how little the pile seem to be affected as I finished each gun. It wasn't until I was down to the last 20 or so that it actually felt like I had made any progress. But they got done and then they were glued onto models! Yay!

And after gluing them on, I now have 3 complete battle companies painted and just over 500 marines done. Given the command squad elements and characters, I'm still expecting the final total to be around the 1100 marines mark. So not quite half way there. But still, a big milestone in my opinion.

OK, so I've just finished the final colour highlight on the last batch of marines I've been painting to get me to the 500 mark. But I haven't actually reached the goal. Not really. Until now, I've been just punching out the marines without painting their bolters (left off to make painting easier) or their squad markings (to put them in tactical or devastator squads). So the next few days are going to be spent doing that. So expect another update in a few days!

Rant:

OK, so I think it is rather safe to say that I love my GW stuff. There's no way I'd have spent the time, money and effort with this project that I have if I didn't love the universe, models and the game. This does not mean that I like what the company does. There have been a few more than questionable decisions made in recent years that can leave one scratching one's head.

However, that does not detract from the game. Recently, they released the new Tau and there was a massive shortage in product because the demand was much higher than expected. Now it seems to be happening again with the upcoming Eldar release. Personally, I take two things away from this. The first is that the GW systems(well 40k at least) is still alive and well in terms of players.

Second, GW has dropped the ball a bit in estimating the demand for these releases. For me, that isn't a huge surprise really. Eldar players haven't had an update for a LONG time now. While sales of their minis probably haven't been stellar due to having an outdated codex and people moving on to other armies or games or just leaving the hobby entirely as things happen in life. As a result GW has to work with whatever data they can, but there is always the chance that a new release will be more popular than the data they have would imply.

But this is not the attitude a lot of more vocal people online have taken. No. It's a conspiracy! GW is deliberately withholding stock from stockists. They are doing so in order to drive independent stockists out of the equation entirely. Which, if truth be told, isn't entirely unreasonable to arrive at that conclusion based on some of the recent policy changes they've made.

But the main issue of this rant, apart from the constant GW basing online in regards to whatever reason someone chooses (usually prices these days, but others as well), is a particular online retailer in Australia's decision to pursue legal action against GW for anti-competitive practices. I actually have no problem with their decision to pursue this avenue. IF they feel there is a legitmate reason to do so, then they should.

I don't agree with the way they have done it though. They've posted a lengthy rant of their own on their website and a forum I frequent. It goes on about supposed number and figures that they claim to have had a source where they draw their own conclusions that they will only be receiving a minuscule amount of the new Eldar stock. Which, at the moment, is simply hearsay. They go on in an angry tirade about how they are sick of being treated by GW this way. All fair enough based on the information they say they have been provided.

Although the limited stock figure is their own conclusion based on the information the claim to have, and possibly an incorrect one.

But, that is fine. That is their decision / conclusion to make of the situation.

They then go on to say that they are withdrawing all support from future events that are GW based. They also say that they are going to keep selling GW product in order to minimalise the direct sales of stock GW make. So basically saying they want to eat into GW's profits as much as possible by selling it themselves instead of having people buy the items through GW directly.

This last part is what has me upset the most of their online post . I think it's a foolish decision. They are withdrawing support from the largest section of the tournament scene (game wise) in Australia. This reduces their exposure to gamers and thus potentially reduces the amount of future customers they might get as a result. But it is still their choice to make. I'm neither here nor there about the comment about continuing to sell GW in order to try and reduce as much direct sales GW makes. It is simply an angry comment tacked on to the end of their post and seems a bit churlish really.

But for me, the whole rant itself should never have appeared online. I find it incredibly unprofessional. Based on what they say, the Eldar release is the "straw that broke the camel's back". And I can understand why they would be frustrated and angry at the situation. But if you're going to pursue legal action, posting an angry rant online is not the smartest thing to do really.

So, at this point, I'm going to stop buying product from the company in question. This is not due to the anti-GW nature of the rant they posted (OK, if I'm being honest with myself, it probably has a bit to do with it), but because of the rant itself and my perception of the overall unprofessional nature of it.

Having said that, I've always found their customer service to be wonderful. I guess time will tell to see what comes of it. But I strongly suspect it is all just bluster to try and blackmail / force GW into giving th

So I know I said I wasn't going to post anything until I hit the 500 mark, but I re-arranged the shelves and what not and a mate was asking for a photo of the lot anyway. So here we go. 412 painted marines including speeder pilots. I've got another 20 marines finished apart from the bases, so I'm inching closer to that 500 mark.

As I write this I am in the process of undercoating 120 marines. This is because I'm aiming to get to the 500 marine mark in the next couple of months. I'd like to get them done sooner, but with 2-3 weeks of holiday time coming up, it's unlikely to happen ;)

I am undercoating a bunch of scouts as part of this lot. They are quicker to paint than your normal marine and it feels a little like cheating to paint them to boost numbers, but they will need to get painted eventually anyway. Otherwise it's mostly bolter marines with a smattering of heavy weapons and sergeants.But until I get this next batch painted, I don't think I'll be updating the blog. I just want to knuckle down and focus on reaching the 500 marine milestone.

Well, I've just put the finishing touches on eight more bikes and two more attack bikes. I'm too lazy to take photos right now though, so you're just going to have to take my word for it ;) This brings my total number of bikers painted to forty two, add in the five land speeders I've got painted and that's fifty two members of the 8th company painted. Then I've got the command squad on bikes on top of that, so a grand total of fifty seven members painted :)